Visiting speech therapists at York Hospital

 

I visited York Hospital’s Speech and Language Therapy services today to find out more about their work after the team won an award from the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy.

 

The special ‘Giving Voice’ award was given for extra training provided by the hospital’s speech and language therapists to medical students at Hull and York Medical School (HYMS).  This valuable training will help up to 80 doctors graduating from HYMS each year to better understand the problems patients with communication and swallowing difficulties face.

 

Speech therapy does much more than help people to speak.  Speech and language therapists rehabilitate people after a stroke and help patients with swallowing and voice problems, and help support children with disabilities.  It is great that the York team have won an award for helping to train doctors in these skills.

 

The speech and language therapists that I met today told me that they have no NHS budget for electrical communication aids which they believe should be supplied to a number of their patients.  They spend quite a bit of time seeking charitable funding for these aids.  I am raising their concerns with the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley.

 

Photo: Hugh Bayley MP meeting Speech and Language Therapists at York Hospital, 21 December 2011